Finding Home
by CubicleOfThoughts
Summary: Eli is at NYU, Clare is graduating... So much can happen in a year. This is too long for a summary so please just read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my last story on fan-fiction. I am going to update it soon and it will be a few chapters long. Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I'm kind of sad this will be it for my writing. Well please review, if I get five reviews I will update tomorrow night. Actually five reviews and I will update in general, I don't seem to be as popular as I used to be. But I will update tomorrow for five reviews. Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoy.**

**I don't own anything!**

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"I'm sorry, Clare I met someone else." Eli said to Clare as they spoke on the phone during their weekly talks while he was at NYU. Clare let out a small gasps and her voice broke as she said,

"O-ok. Have a nice time with her; bye." She didn't say anything else before she hung up and crumpled into a ball on her bed and cried. She shook and shook as tears flowed down her face as she thought about how Eli could do such a thing to her; she loved him.

Jake was walking past Clare's room, reading a naughty magazine when he saw his baby sister crying. He wasn't much for emotions but he knew when Clare cried it was for a legit reason, not some broken nail or something rediculas.

He walked into the doorway and knocked gently and came in. Clare didn't respond, she just stayed shaking as short sobs escaped her plump lips.

"Clare?" Jake said as he sat on the edge of her bed. He reached over and gently rubbed her shoulder as she shook. She still hadn't responded, and he didn't know what else to do, so he picked her up and sat her on his lap like he used to when they once dated. He looked at her broken face and swept the pad of his thumb under her eyes to retrieve the fallen tears. She said nothing yet, so he kept on holding her.

It had been an hour since Eli dumped her and she didn't have any tears left to shed. She had been in such a saddened daze she hadn't even realized Jake had been cradling her this whole time. He had been a big brother and more this whole time. For once he didn't offer her pot to solve her problems; he offered her a shoulder to cry on and a lap to cuddle on. Siblings or not they still had a friendship stronger than most people realized. They had gotten past the hatred stage, past the loving stage, and now they were on the understanding and friendly stage.

"Jake." Clare whispered as she looked up into her step-brothers eyes. He looked down at her and smoothed her curls and said,

"Yes, Clare bear?" She hugged his torso and said almost non-coherently,

"Eli dumped me for someone else." Jake looked at her with fire in his eyes and gently put her off his lap and shot up off her bed. He grabbed his phone off the table in her room and stomped off. Clare sat there dumbfounded as Jake abandoned her as well.

Jake went into his room and slammed the door shut and called his 'so called' _friend_ immediately.

"Hello?" Eli answered. Jake tried to control his breathing as he said,

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you sick fucker!" Eli let out a chuckle and said,

"I'm guessing you talked to Clare?" Jake grew more angry again and said,

"How dare you do this to her? She was so much in love with you." Eli laughed and said,

"Dude, chill. I only told her I met someone else so I could surprise her tomorrow when I come home. I have something I would like to ask her." Jake let out a breath and finally said after a moment,

"Tomorrow she is graduating, you already broke her… what are you asking her?" Eli stayed silent and Jake gasped and said,

"Oh god, you're asking her to marry you?" Eli let out a nervous chuckle and said,

"Keep it to yourself dude, I am going to surprise her. Now I got to go, I got a flight to catch in an hour. See you tomorrow!" Jake hung up and fell backwards onto his bed, completely forgetting about his naughty magazine. He thought about his conversation with Eli, to the heartbreak of Clare. How did he get wrapped up in such a fucked up drama?

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**Please review? I hope you all enjoyed, I'm going to bed now. Five reviews and an update tomorrow, I promise! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Twelve reviews? Oh my gosh! Thank you! This chapter is short and a little sad but I will update tomorrow for five more reviews. Thank you for reading my final fan-fiction story. You guys have made it so worth it to write and to have a passion for writing. Please review.**

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It wasn't even ten minutes later when Jake heard a subtle knock on his door. He got up from his laying position and opened the door. There stood Clare; her eyes swollen and her body still shaking. Jake knew the reason for her crying was no longer a concern but he also knew he couldn't say anything about it.

"Can I come in?" She asked gently as she stepped towards her brother. He smiled slightly at her and moved aside so she could enter his room.

Clare sat on Jakes bed and laid her head against his bedpost and starred off into space.

"Clare, he's an asshole to let you go. He was clearly an idiot." Jake said trying to sound convincing. Clare glared at him and then patted the spot next to her for him to sit.

"Do you think she's prettier than me? Is it because I don't have sex with him?" Jake grew flustered with the questions she was asking, especially the sex question. He looked down at his hands and then he tilted his head slightly towards her and said,

"I think it's because he is unpredictable. And sex isn't everything." She nodded slightly and got up off his bed and walked to the door. She turned to him and said,

"You left this on my bed… um I thought you might like it back." She pulled out a naughty magazine out of her back pocket and tossed it on his bed and blushed as she walked out of the room. Her body was slumped over and her whole demeanor was sadder than he had ever seen her before.

Eli waited in line to board the plane from New York back home to Toronto. His face was lit up with excitement as he handed his ticket to the flight attendant and she scanned it telling him where to sit. He could only get a seat in first class, so his ticket cost him a pretty big chunk of change, but it was worth it to surprise his leading lady in waiting.

Eli made it to his seat and sat down in the plush leather. He reached into his pocket to turn off his cellphone as he saw he had a new text message. He must not have heard it go off while in the crowded airport.

Eli opened the message and it read,

_I hope she makes you happy, Eli. I'm sorry I wasn't good enough for you; I am done crying over you now. I know it is over and I accept it, I got accepted into NYU but I will be attending a school far from there to avoid you. I'm packing up now so I don't miss my flight, goodbye Eli._

Eli's jaw dropped and looked at the message again to make sure he read it right. He was coming home to propose to her and she is leaving? And worst of all she isn't even going to attend her own graduation. Panic overwhelmed Eli as the plane took off.

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**I cannot believe I got twelve reviews! I can't thank you all enough! Okay so this is chapter two, I will have one more chapter of it up by tomorrow again if I get five more reviews :) **

**To clear things up, Clare is upset and hurt; Jake knows the truth and no one accept Eli knows Clare plans to ditch graduation to take off to get away for school early. The next chapter is a lot longer and will be worth it, I promise! Thanks for reading my last story; it means the world to me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is it! Part three of my final story! I hope you all enjoy! Please review my final chapter, I love all of your feedback :)**

**I don't own anything!**

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The plane to Toronto took off with ease as Eli frantically looked at his phone. He had an iPhone so it was allowed to be on during flights as long as it wasn't on during takeoff and landing. Otherwise it worked well on land or in the air.

As the light turned off for the seatbelts, Eli turned his phone back on and immediately called Jake.

"Hello?" A groggy man answered. Eli let out a sigh of relief and said,

"Dude, is Clare there, is she home?" Eli asked questions faster than Jake could register.

"Dude chill, Clare is in her room, I can hear her blasting _Domino _and tossing stuff around." Eli let out a soft laugh as he thought back to the song she was listening to. It was a song both of them secretly loved, it was theirs.

"Jake, please listen to me. Clare sent me a text a few minutes ago and it said she was going to leave tomorrow and skip graduation. I guess she accepted going to some school far away from me and well everyone." Eli felt his heart break as he explained to Jake what Clare had sent him.

"Dude, I hate to say it, but she got into UCLA. She is going there tomorrow, she told Helen this morning, and was planning on going after graduation but I guess decided to go now. She has a full scholarship." Jake explained to Eli the best he could but both of them knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Eli and Jake talked for a few more minutes until the door to Jakes room busted open and a drunken Clare came straggling in. She smiled at him and said,

"Who are you talking to Jake-y?" He looked at her and quickly replied to her,

"Um I am talking to Katie, yeah Katie." Eli chuckled on the other end of the line but stayed silent for words as Jake spoke to Clare.

"What do you need, Clare?" She laughed and lifted up her shirt and said,

"Eli doesn't want me, no one wants me. Let's fuck!" Jake let out a gasp and Eli let out a shrill cry as he shouted into the phone,

"You better keep your paws off my girl!" Eli was furious, Jake was astounded and Clare was stripping. How can this day and night get any stranger?

Jake hung up on Eli after he said,

"I will get her dressed and put in her own room to sober up, you better hurry your ass up as soon as you land you moron." Jake scooped Clare up bridal style and grabbed a blanket to wrap around her nearly nude body. He quietly walked into her room and sat her on her bed and grabbed her pajama shirt and slipped it over her head and tucked his baby sister in. Before exiting the room, he could hear Clare sobbing under the blankets and her whispering ever so slightly,

"Why am I not good enough for anyone?" Jake's heart broke as he heard her sob, he knew she was hurting, but he didn't know what else to do accept walk out of the room. The sight of the girl he once was in love with naked made him want to take advantage of her, and he just couldn't do that to her or to _him._ Even if he really wanted to.

Eli's flight landed a few hours later and Eli was the first one off the plane. He didn't have any bags accept the one he had as a carry-on. So he quickly grabbed it and darted towards the exit to get to the terminal for taxis. He quickly flagged one down and told him to take him to Clare's address.

While Eli sat nervous and worried in the back seat of the taxi, he couldn't help but think the worst. Did Jake take advantage of his girl? Did he make a mistake for fake breaking up with her all to surprise her in the heat of a now frustrating moment? No answers came to his mind as the taxi driver pulled up to Clare's house. Eli paid him and got out as fast as he could.

Clare was asleep finally in her bed. She was cuddling the lime green monkey pillow-pet Eli bought her and tears were flowing as she dreamt of him being hers again. In her heart she knew she was never going to be the 'Julia' to him that he so desperately wanted.

Eli rang the doorbell once and immediately Jake answered the door and looked at him. His face had a mix of expressions and one of which was anger.

"Move man, I need to see her." Eli demanded as he entered the room. Jake glared daggers at him as Eli started to walk off towards the old wooden staircase. Before he made it up a step he turned around and looked Jake directly in the eyes and said,

"Please tell me you and she didn't do what I think you did?" Jakes eyes popped out of his head and shook 'no' faster than not. Eli relaxed and said,

"Ok, I'm sorry I put you through all of this. Clare didn't deserve such a cruel joke, I just wanted…" Jake cut him off and said,

"Don't explain to me; tell it to the hurt girl upstairs; she was rejected twice in less than twelve hours. She's hurting man, make it right." Eli nodded and ran up to his beloved girl's room.

He slowly turned the knob of the door and saw Clare was stirring in her sleep, mumbling and crying as she held tight to the pillow stuffed animal. Eli's heart shattered as he saw her in this state of mind. All of which he caused.

He walked in fully and shut the door behind him as he walked to her bed. He kicked off his shoes and pulled up the corner of her blanket as he crawled in beside her. He rubbed her curls back as she turned over to face him. She slowly woke up and saw the man who caused all her hurt.

"No, this isn't real. You're not here." She said as she buried her head deeper into the pillow. Eli lifted her up so she was lying on top of him and smoothed her sweaty hair back. He kissed her temple as she finally realized he was here. He was in her bed, cuddling with her.

"Clare, please look at me." He begged. She looked into his intense green eyes and said,

"Your girlfriend is probably wondering where you're at. Please go." She said all without a shake to her tone. It took all her strength to get up and not pass out. Still tipsy from the bottle of wine she stole from the liquor cabinet she threw up all over Eli's shoes.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." She said, then quickly rebutted by saying,

"Actually no, go to hell Eli. Get out and never come back you sick bastard." She tried to walk steady as she reached the door. She walked out and ran into Jake. He blocked her from leaving and said,

"Listen to him, he needs to explain." She glared but still tried to make her way out.

Eli watched as she struggled, eventually Jake grew tired of fighting with her and threw her over his shoulder and tossed her onto the bed; directly onto Eli to be exact. Jake shut and locked the door from the outside and yelled,

"You cannot come out until the two of you have made it work." And then he walked away; leaving them to bicker.

"Clare, to start off, I didn't meet anyone else; I made it all up." He looked down at his hands as he tried to think up a way to explain his logics without ruining his poorly thought out proposal.

"You have someone else, please just go. I have a flight to catch in…" she looked at her clock on the wall and said, "three hours." Eli felt his eyes start to water and he grabbed her hand and said,

"Please don't go. At least go to graduation." She shook her head and slid on a pair of shorts and slipper as she continued to pack up her boxes for college. Eli sat silently looking at her pack up everything she could in a short period of time before leaving him now for good. He deserved this.

Clare had packed up her desk and when it came to one picture left, she looked at it intently and threw in to the garbage bin. Eli got up immediately and turned her around. She yanked out of his grip and said,

"What?" He grabbed the trash bin and picked out the picture she had tossed. He held it up to her and said,

"Don't you remember that day? That was our one year anniversary. That was the first time we made it past first base." A blush spread across her cheeks as she smiled slightly. She sat down on the edge of her desk and said,

"What are you doing here, Eli? You dumped me; remember?" Eli frowned and grabbed his head in his hands and sighed loudly. He then reached into his back pocket and grabbed a small velvet box.

"Clare, I wanted to surprise you, I wanted you to not expect me at your graduation so I could do this." Eli bent down on one knee and opened the box. He smiled at her and saw her expression change from hate to surprise to love all in a split second. The diamond ring was small but tasteful, it had everything she always wanted in it; _love._

Clare stayed silent as Eli gabbed her hand and let a tear slip as he said,

"I have loved you since the day I met you, since the moment we talked. I have never felt this way about anyone, I thought Julia was the one back when, and then I realized that even if she had survived the accident and I had met you, I would still have chosen you. You are the beats to the rhythm of my heart; you are the words that flow out when I write anything good. You are the smile on my face every time we talk. I love you Clare, please be mine?" He spoke from the heart and Clare cried hard as she shook and tackled Eli on the ground. She climbed on top of him and kissed his soft lips and said,

"You're finally home. I missed you." Eli smiled wide and said,

"So is that a yes?" She grinned and kissed him once more before saying against his lips,

"That's a hell yes!"

Jake listened through the door a smile grew wide on his face as he finally saw this fucked up drama finally turn into a fairytale ending. Things may be difficult but they always find a way to work.

"I'm coming in!" Jake yelled as he unlocked the door, immediately regretting his decision. On the floor were Eli and Clare, half naked wrestling for dominance, clothes being flung off quicker than Jake could leave the room.

"Um congrats!" he yelled as he locked them back in and walked away; smoothly slipping his naughty magazine out of his back pocket and returning to looking at the photos.

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**Oh my gosh! This is it. It is two-thousand words long and my final goodbye. I hope you all enjoyed it, I loved this and loved writing it. I am sad to end it to be honest, but I hope everyone enjoyed it. I hope you guys review to tell me what you thought, that makes me so happy. Goodbye my fans, you made it all worth it :)**


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